From Hispanisms to Anglicisms: Examining the Perception and Treatment of Native Linguistic Features Associated with Interference in Translator Training

Abstract

In this study, translation students and instructors at Chilean universities were asked about their perception and treatment of five grammatical features of Spanish, which, despite constituting Hispanic developments independent of any English influence, have been often associated with anglicisms in the translation literature. Numerous responses were recorded labeling the features under consideration as unacceptable and/or as anglicisms, as well as indicating generalized unfavorable attitudes toward these features in the classroom. Additionally, a significant association was found between feature acceptability and both purported relation to English and self-reported instructor attitudes in the classroom, such that when a feature was labeled as an anglicism it would most likely elicit a negative judgment. Together, these results show that some students and instructors tend to strongly associate certain features with a negative value and with the idea of anglicism. Furthermore, taking participants’ responses at face value, this association could be interpreted as involving a categorical stigmatization and xenofication of the respective features. From a pedagogic perspective, these findings are considered worthy of attention as they indicate the possible stigmatization and xenofication of potentially useful linguistic resources in translator training, something that may have negative consequences for trainees.